Our payments and services can help you, or someone you care for, use health care services or buy prescription medicines.

About Medicare

We administer Medicare and pay Medicare benefits on behalf of the Department of Health. They develop Medicare policy.

Medicare gives you access to:

a range of medical services for free or at a lower cost including:

doctors

specialists

optometrists, and

at times, dentists and other allied health professionals

lower cost prescriptions, and

free care as a public patient in a public hospital

You can also get a 75% rebate of the Medicare Schedule fee for services and procedures you have as a private patient. This can be in a public or private hospital. This doesn’t include hospital accommodation and items such as theatre fees and medicines.

You can access Medicare services if you’re enrolled in Medicare. When you enrol in Medicare, you’ll get your own Medicare card. Read more about enrolling and getting your own Medicare card.

Payments and services

The Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) lists the services you may get at a lower cost. See if your service is on the MBS list on the Department of Health MBS Online website.

Medicare Safety Net

The Medicare Safety Net provides a higher Medicare benefit for out of hospital costs. When you reach the Medicare Safety Net threshold, you may get higher Medicare benefits for out of hospital medical costs.